If you need the audio from these sessions, contact me at didymus7@gmail.com. I'm also a design engineer for inductive displacement sensors and I'd be happy to answer questions. We don't do proximity but high resolution displacement measurements, and correspondingly, the cost for our systems is more.

Reviewing the slides. Why does FireWire only list a length limitation? USB 2.0 also has a length limitation (5m) which isn't much more than FireWire (4.5m). The others would also have maximum lengths, but they are much greater (e.g. 100m for Cat5 Ethernet).

sensors on the other hand will measure a stimulus of some physical form and procide an output indicative of what was measured...in the case of signal conversion to another physical form then it acts in the role of a transducer eg - light energy sensed with an electric signal output in some proportion...vary resistance ans hence current transmitted

Attenuator = signal conditioner ...typically a reduction in the signal level normally expressed in decibels. for example a band-pass fillter might severly attenuate signals ouside its pass-bad of frequencies. A passive resistance T or PI network can be used to match impedance between two end circuits to afford proper power-signal matching, but result in signal attenuation

I seem to remember that Modbus and Baily were proprietary communication systems. Is that true? Are CAN and Ethernet based communications what we should be designing for? Also, does one need to use a special I/O chip to interface the MCU with it's sensor set? Do these "smart sensors" come equipped to use different communication protocols?

The problem is, signal receiving from radioactive izotop is very small and has to be gained more than 1000 times. So ther is no other way avoiding high voltage to reach this gain. Unless new technology sensor.

Can chip sensors be calibrated? Or does one just need to get the performance spec sheet from the manufacturer?

Many of the newest chip based or MEMS sensors are calibrated based on significant integrated signal conditioning circuitry. Additional calibration may be necessary if the application requirment's exceed the sensor's capability, so you would have to refer to the data sheet for that capability.

Re pressure measurements.... You all may recall some of the pressure readings at BP's well head after the blowout in the Gulf were over 17,000 psi. I was floored. We make up lines with swagelock, and I don't think what we use can handle those pressures.

what are the examples of sensors with Ethernet i/f? Wouldn't it be a microcontroller with a sensor with a n/w i/f rather than just a sensor?

This is part of a make or buy type decision. With the right sensing technology, a system designer would interface the sensor to an MCU for use in the network. Alternative, a engineer configuring a system can find a sensor that meets the other application requirments from an industrial sensor supplier that offers the appropriate network protocol as well.

As far as the different wired comminication protocols, will the same physical wiring work for all? Ignoring environmental considerations for the wiring, are we looking at Coax, UTP, (Cat ?) shielded twisted pair, or something else?

Randy, you mentioned a sensor with ADC capability. I can infer that more complicated processing capabilities might be present in some of the more modern sensor packages. Is that an accurate assessment and they would be names "smart sensors"?

Randy, how can EtherNet/IP be considered "soft real-time" when it synchronizes with much lower jitter (< 200ns) than any of the other three buses (< 1us == 1000 ns) on the Motion Control Protocol Comparison slide?

@Lahha01 Can you see the "More Troubleshooting" link just above the "Your Post" dialog box?If so, follow it and on the bottom of the page it tells you what URL's must be unblocked by yourIT department for the streaming audio to work.

Randi, in the most obvious process control applications, control optimization is not too frequent. Can you name a few applications where indirect measurements (state estimation) are necessary in the industry around us?

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A few weeks ago, Ford Motor Co. quietly announced that it was rolling out a new wrinkle to the powerful safety feature called stability control, adding even more lifesaving potential to a technology that has already been very successful.

It won't be too much longer and hardware design, as we used to know it, will be remembered alongside the slide rule and the Karnaugh map. You will need to move beyond those familiar bits and bytes into the new world of software centric design.

People who want to take advantage of solar energy in their homes no longer need to install a bolt-on solar-panel system atop their houses -- they can integrate solar-energy-harvesting shingles directing into an existing or new roof instead.

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